Tough Love
by nellaselfgirl
Summary: Raph admits to everyone that he's in love with Mikey, can Mikey return his feelings or is this the end of their relationship? Complete!
1. A Busy Morning

Chapter 1

A Busy Morning

It was a normal morning for Mikey; he woke up, being his usually hyper self. He walked downstairs to find Leo and Master Splinter at the table already. "Gooood morning everyone!" said Mikey with a big grin on his face.

"Good morning, my son." Said Splinter smiling back.

"Mm." Grunted Leo who was not a morning person. Mikey and Splinter were the only two morning people of the family, but Splinter knew well enough to not talk for the first hour that his sons were awake. Mikey knew this as well, he just didn't do it. Mikey sat down next to Leo.

"Hey Leo! How'd you sleep last night?" said Mikey patting Leo on the shoulder. Leo shot Mikey and evil glare.

"Michelangelo." Said Splinter.

"Ok I'll stop." Said Mikey slightly disappointed. Raphael and Donatello then came down in the same state that Leo was. Mikey kept his mouth shut this time. As much as he enjoyed annoying Raph he actually did know better than to mess with him in the morning. Especially in the situation that Raph and Mikey were in now.

Lately Raph had been ignoring Mikey, and had been drifting away from him. He and Raph used to do everything together, they went for runs, played videogames, had long conversations, and everyday their friendship was strengthened. But now Raph hardly even looked at Mikey.

Raph and Don sat down at the table, and they all ate their breakfast in silence. This usually made Mikey uncomfortable, he loved to talk, but he knew if he did things would be ugly. By the time everyone was finished Leo, Raph, and Don were more awake, and their morning training began.

Mikey defiantly noticed that Raph was avoiding him during training. He usually fought Raph most of the time, but Raph didn't even come near him, until Master Splinter told them to switch partners. Mikey saw the look on Raph's face. He felt anger rise in him. He had to talk to Raph about this, but now was not the best time.

Training ended, he had to talk to Raph now. He walked in Raph direction, but Raph started walking away pretending not to notice him.

"Hey Raph!" said Mikey "Can I talk to you for a sec?" Raph stopped, bit his lower lip nervously and turned to face Mikey.

"Sure." He said quietly. They walked into the kitchen.

"Raph, did I do something that made you mad?" said Mikey a little upset.

"What do ya mean?" said Raph trying to pretend that he didn't know what Mikey was talking about.

"You know exactly what I mean!" said Mikey getting angry "You ignore me, you don't talk to me, you don't even look at me! If I did something I want to know, cause I can't stand this anymore. We use to do everything together, now we don't do anything." Mikey just realized that he was crying. He quickly wiped the tears away and looked at Raph.

Raph sighed, he hated seeing Mikey like this and hated even more that he was the one causing this pain in his little brother. But he could never tell Mikey his secret.

"I'm sorry, Mikey." Said Raph, "I wish I could tell you…"

"You can Raph, we're brothers and best friends. You know you can tell me anything." Said Mikey.

"I know I can, but this is different in ways ya can't even begin to imagine. I can't tell anyone this." Said Raph. Mikey looked extremely hurt. Raph tried to pull Mikey into a hug, but Mikey pushed away. "Mikey please don't hate me."

"I can't help it right now, you're like a completely different person to me. We use to be able to tell each other everything." Mikey started crying again.

"Mikey don't cry. I'm not trying to hurt you. This is just something that no one will understand, especially you."

"Why especially me? Don't you trust me?" said Mikey starting to raise his voice.

"Of course I do." Said Raph "But... Mikey wait come back!" Raph started chasing after Mikey who was too hurt and upset to continue this argument with Raph. He ran into his room and slammed the door.

"Mikey wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" he rested his head against the door for a second before he walked away knowing that Mikey wasn't going to talk to him for a while. Raph just noticed his family looking at him with the same shocked look on their faces.

"Raph what happened?" said Don.

"Nothing." Said Raph. He walked into his room and shut the door.

An hour had passed since the argument, and both Raph and Mikey were still in their rooms.

"My sons," said Splinter "perhaps you should talk to them." Leo and Don agreed and went upstairs to their brothers' room.

"Don maybe you should talk to Raph, you guys don't fight as much." Said Leo

"Sure." Said Don as he went over to Raph's door.

Leo knocked on Mikey's door. Then he heard, "Raph if that's you go away!"

"Mikey its Leo."

"Oh, ok you can come in." Leo entered Mikey's room and closed the door behind him. He found Mikey curled up on his bed facing the wall. He jumped up to the bed, which was high off the ground and sat on the side.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" asked Leo putting a hand on Mikey's shoulder. Mikey sat up and looked at Leo.

"There's not much to talk about. You know what's going on." Said Mikey.

"Yeah. Raph's been ignoring you lately. I can only imagine how upset you are."

"I don't know why! I've been trying to think of anything I've done that would make him so mad, but all the things I can think of he would have talk to me about it. I just don get why he's been shoving me away." Mikey started sobbing.

"Mikey…" Leo said pulling Mikey into a hug. "I don't know why either. But Don's talking to him right now so maybe we'll find out soon."

"Ok." Said Mikey in a soft voice.

"You wanna come downstairs and get something to eat?" asked Leo

"Sure." Said Mikey wiping away the tears. They both jumped down from the bed and went downstairs. Where Splinter was waiting. When he saw Mikey he went over and hugged him.

"Raph why can't you tell me?" said Don, "I won't tell Mikey if it's really that bad."

"Don, ya don't understand how bad this is. I can't tell anyone. You guys will never understand this." Said Raph. He and Don were sitting on the hammock across from each other.

"Why?" asked Don.

"Donnie! This could go on for hours." Said Raph.

"Sorry. I'm just trying to help." Said Don

"I know, I know." Said Raph. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "He thinks I hate him."

"He knows you don't. He's just upset right now. I mean I would be too. You guys were so close, and did everything together. Getting pushed away like this can't be easy for him."

"What do I do?" said Raph.

"If you can't tell him what's going on, then maybe you should just explain that you still love him and you're just going through some emotional stuff right now. And it has nothing to do with him." Said Don.

Raph looked up, "well…it does, but it's nothing he did, I'm not mad at him."

"Then why can't you tell him?" said Don, "you should really tell him something."

"I know, I will, just…not right now." Raph got up and walked over to his desk across the room.

"Well do it soon. The more you ignore him the harder it's gonna get to talk to him." Said Don. Raph didn't say anything. "Do you want to come downstairs? Maybe Splinter can help you?"

"Yeah ok." Said Raph. They went downstairs where they found Splinter and Leo having a group hug around Mikey, who was crying.

"Hey Mikey," said Don joining the hug. Raph hesitated, but eventually joined.

"Mikey, I'm so sorry." Said Raph quietly. Mikey looked at him, then looked away. Raph felt a sudden ache in his heart. The hug slowly broke; Raph knew he had to talk to Mikey now he couldn't wait any longer.

"Mikey, do ya wanna go for a walk?" asked Raph. Mikey looked at him, paused for a second the nodded his head. They walked out of the lair.

Raph and Mikey walked up to a rooftop, and then sat down next to each other.

"Mikey I just want to let you know that I not mad at you, and you didn't do anything. It's me, I'm just going through some stuff right now."

Mikey looked at him "You could have told me that earlier."

"I know I should have." Raph sighed.

"Raph, why can't you just tell me? I'll understand if you tell me." Said Mikey.

Raph couldn't believe he was actually considering this. "Ok I'll tell you. But I'm warning you, your not gonna like it, and you'll probably be too uncomfortable around me from now on."

Mikey put his hand on Raph's shoulder "I promise I won't I'll always be your brother."

Raph sighed "Ok. Here it goes. The reason why I've been acting like this is because I…uh…" he stopped suddenly scared Mikey was just looking at him waiting for an answer. "I love you." Mikey looked confused. "And when I say I love you, I mean something a little more." Raph stopped hoping Mikey knew where he was going with this. Mikey looked more confused and a little scared.

"Wait. You mean that you're _in_ love with me?" said Mikey.

"Yeah." Raph said knowing his relationship with Mikey was now completely ruined, "now you know why I've been avoiding you, cause my feeling have been driving me crazy!"

There was a silence between them for a moment then Mikey stood up.

"I think I have to be alone for a while. You know to think about this." Raph stood up.

"Ok." He felt like crap. "I'll be back at the lair if you need me."

"Yeah whatever." Mikey walked away. Raph sighed and went back to the lair.

When Raph entered the lair his family was sitting around the T.V., then they all stood up and walked over to him.

"Where's Mikey?" asked Leo.

"Out. I told him, and I think our relationship is completely ruined now."

"What did you tell him?" asked Splinter.

"The thing that's been bothering me, and you guys don't wanna know about it." Said Raph heading towards his room.

"Raphael, tell us. This has gone on long enough," said Splinter.

_There gonna find out anyway you piece'a shit._ Raph thought to himself. "Ok, might as well get this over with. This past few months I have realized that I have these weird feelings for Mikey that are totally wrong for a brother to be feeling. Please tell me you know what I mean." Raph looked at his family, they all looked confused.

"What?" said Leo, "Raph you can't tell us that you're in love with Mikey."

Splinter and Don gave Leo a disgusted look, "Leonardo, never say anything like that ever again."

"Yeah, that was gross." Said Don.

"Actually," said Raph, "Leo's right." They all looked at Raph like he had three heads.

"Raphael, I would like to speak to you." Said Splinter.

"Ok." Said Raph knowing it was the end of the world for him. Splinter went into his bedroom and Raph followed him. They kneeled across from each other on the meditation rug.

"Sensei, before you begin I would like to say that every thought in your head like: 'this is wrong', and 'these feeling shouldn't exist between brothers' are things that I've said to my self every single minute since I discovered these feelings." Said Raph.

"Good. At least you know how disgusting this is." Said Splinter. Raph nodded.

"I have tried so hard to get rid of these feelings but they keep getting stronger. I don't know what to do. And now Mikey is gonna be to uncomfortable to be around me." Raph noticed that a couple tears had run down his cheeks. Splinter moved closer to Raph and hugged him.

"My son, I have no problem with you being gay. I will accept that, but, these feelings for your brother are wrong but I will not say anything else about it, unless I feel that it is necessary. And I want you and Michelangelo to make up. So when he returns I want you two to talk."

There was a knock on the door, and Leo entered when bided to do so.

"Yes my son?"

"Mikey's back, and he wants to talk to you Raph." Said Leo.

"Ok I'll be right out." Said Raph as he got up. He and Splinter went out to see Mikey.

"Michelangelo, when you are through talking to Raphael I would like to speak to you." Said Splinter.

"Yes, Sensei." Said Mikey. He then motioned to Raph and they went in the kitchen.

"Mikey do ya hate me?" asked Raph.

"No, I don't hate you." Said Mikey "but I have been thinking a lot about what you told me and… I'll try not to let it bother me, but it might take a while."

"Yeah, I'm actually feeling better now that I got that off my shell." Said Raph, "Mikey do you think I shoulda kept it to myself?"

"Well, in some ways, yes. But I know why you were avoiding me, and we are suppose to tell each other everything…"

"Yeah but this is different." Said Raph. There was a silence between them.

"I know, but Raph you're my brother. I can't let anything stand in the way of that, no matter how weird it is." Mikey stopped for a second then pulled Raph into a hug. "We won't let this ruin our friendship."

"No we won't," said Raph "thanks Mikey." Then they walked out of the kitchen and Mikey went into Splinter's room, to talk to him.

"So what have you and Raphael decided?" asked Splinter.

"We are not gonna let it ruin our friendship. We both know it's gonna be hard, but we're just gonna forget that this happened." Said Mikey

"Good I was hoping that would be the result." Said Splinter "let's join your brothers." They both got up and went into the living room. They all now sat around the T.V. in silence, trying not to think about what had happened today. Raph looked at the clock and saw that it was only 10:30 in the morning. _Gonna be a long day,_ he thought to himself.


	2. Turn of Events

Chapter 2

Turn of Events

It had been a few days since the incident, and things seemed to be going all right. Raph and Mikey started doing more together, and no one brought up what had happened a few days ago. Raph still made sure he didn't spend too much time around Mikey; his feelings were still there. Later that day Mikey came up to him.

"Hey Raph you wanna go for a run?" he asked,

"Yeah sure." Said Raph. "Race ya to central park!" he said running out of the lair as fast as he could with Mikey closely behind him.

They leaped from building to building, laughing, and having the best time. Raph purposely slowed down a little to let Mikey pass him. They arrived at the park, and Mikey won the race.

"Haha yeah! Mikey wins again! In your face slow poke!" yelled Mikey in excitement

"Mikey not so loud there might be people out." Said Raph.

"Come on it's almost 11:00 whose out this late?"

"Those people." Said Raph pointing. They both quickly climbed in a tree to hide from the group of teenagers walking by. When they passed Mikey and Raph jumped down from the tree and headed into a shadowy area where they won't be seen.

"I miss this." Said Mikey sitting down against a tree with Raph next to him.

"Yeah me too." Said Raph hoping Mikey wasn't bringing up what he thought he was bringing up.

"So Raph a gotta ask," said Mikey "what made you…ya know, like me?"

Raph suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I dunno exactly. It kinda gradually happened. Why?"

"I was just curious." Shrugged Mikey, "I mean…I guess I've been thinking about it these past few days, and you're the first and probably only person that liked me in that way so…"

"Mikey you're not sayin' that we actually…"

"No, no, not at all, no." Mikey paused for a moment "Well yeah maybe."

Raph shot Mikey a look that was somewhere in between surprise and fear. "Mikey…I…uh…ya know I've wanted this for months now…but things could get really complicated…I know I'm the one that brought it up but that was really stupid of me."

"Not as stupid as you may think." Said Mikey "I just wanted to bring up how I feel now."

Raph could not believe what he had just heard. Mikey had changed his mind? This was unbelievable! Wait, what would the others say? Raph looked back at Mikey who was still looking at him. Mikey moved a little closer to Raph and took his hand. Raph could fee his heart beating faster. Then Mikey leaned in towards Raph. Raph closed his eyes as he felt Mikey kissing him.

It was almost 2:00am by the time Raph and Mikey got home, and Splinter was still up, waiting for them.

"My sons, next time call if you are going to be out so late. I was getting worried."

"Sorry Sensei," said Raph and Mikey. Splinter looked at them and saw that something was different between them.

"Is everything alright, my sons?" he asked

"Yep. Everything's fine Sensei," Said Mikey "Goodnight." Raph and Mikey went upstairs and into their bedrooms. Splinter shook his head, he could tell that something unusual was going on between them.


	3. The Happy Ending

Chapter 3

The next morning Mikey woke up a little earlier than usual. He walked downstairs and found Leo and Splinter already up. _Geez, how early do they get up?_ Mikey thought to himself as he sat down at the table.

"Morning!" he said.

"Good morning, Michelangelo." Said Splinter. Leo didn't say anything. Mikey was about to annoy Leo, but he noticed that Raph was coming downstairs. Mikey smiled at him, Raph tried to smile back, but he was so tired that it didn't work out to well.

"You two are up early." Said Splinter. "Especially since you were out so late."

"Yeah, I just felt like getting up early." Said Mikey realizing too late that it wasn't the best excuse to use for Master Splinter.

"I can see that there is something different in both of you. Where did you two go last night?"

"We raced to Central Park then hung out there for a while, and apparently lost track of time." Said Mikey, getting a little nervous. As tired as Raph was he began to realize that hiding this would be more difficult than he first intended.

"What made you loose track of time?" asked Splinter.

"We were just talking and having a good time, that's all." Said Mikey.

"Can't you guys settle this later?" said Leo wanting some peace and quiet.

"Yeah can we?" asked Mikey.

Splinter nodded "Alright." There was silence for a few minutes before Don came down. He got some coffee then sat down at the table. Mikey was now getting extremely uncomfortable with the silence.

"So Donnie, how's that new invention coming along?" he asked

"Fine." Said Donnie still half asleep. _Dude, I know I'm gonna hate today._ Mikey thought to himself as he sighed.

The rest of breakfast was complete silence. Mikey was more than happy when training started; he could take his mind off of everything for a little while. But he knew that Splinter was going to keep pressing him and Raph until they told him what they did last night. But Splinter didn't say anything about it until later that evening. Raph and Mikey were in the living room playing videogames when Splinter asked to talk to them.

Very disappointed that they had to stop the game, Mikey and Raph got up and followed Splinter into his bedroom. The tree of them kneeled down of the meditating rug.

"My sons please tell me what is going on." Said Splinter, "I promise I will not be angry, if that is what you fear."

"That is kinda what we fear, but ya probably gonna get angry anyways." Said Raph. "It has something to do with that thing that happened a few days ago, ya know between me and Mikey." The expression on Splinters face changed slightly. The turtles knew he was not gonna be happy with this.

"What is going on?" he asked

"Well…" said Mikey, "I kinda changed my mind about Raph."

"What do you mean?" asked Splinter, not liking where this was going.

"We're kinda…dating." Said Mikey. _Here it goes we're dead!_

Splinter didn't say anything but Mikey and Raph knew he was mad.

"Sensei, we know you're angry, but this is kinda important to us." Said Raph, "We love each other."

"So how do you feel about this? Are you ok with it?" asked Mikey.

"I will have to think about it." Said Splinter. Mikey and Raph bowed and left the bedroom.

"Ya know if he's not ok with it then we can't be together." Said Raph.

"Yeah, I know." Said Mikey. Leo and Don came over.

"Ok with what?" asked Leo. Raph and Mikey exchanged an annoyed look.

"Hey, would you guys be ok if Raph and I started dating?" asked Mikey. Leo and Don's faces went blank for a second.

"Um…I guess," said Don, "cause you know we aren't really biologically related."

"Donnie, you're awesome." Said Mikey "Leo, how 'bout you?"

"Well, Don does have a point." He thought about it for a second "I guess I'm ok with it too."

"And Leo, you're awesome as well." Said Mikey.

"Thanks guys." Said Raph.

"So what's going on?" asked Don.

"Splinters deciding if he has a problem with this." Said Raph, "he should be out soon it's been a while."

The turtles sat around the T.V. waiting for Splinter to come out. When he did they all stood up.

"So Sensei, are you ok with this?" asked Mikey, "cause Leo and Don are and if you're not then I'm gonna be really sad."

"Relax Michelangelo," said Splinter "I have decided that I am alright with this."

Without giving him time to say anything else, Raph and Mikey ran over to him and hugged him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" they said at the same time.

"Alright, alright, you boys can let go of me now." Said Splinter chuckling.

"Sensei, you are the awsomest dad in the entire universe!" said Mikey.


End file.
